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Good morning, everyone! This week we’re going back to Southeast Asia to talk about some extra content that we’re making for some of the tags.

Philippines.jpg


Starting with the Philippines, we have decided to focus on two specific tags instead of giving them all some generic missions. First, we have Tondo. Tondo is located in the island of Luzon, in the northern part of the archipelago. Philippine political organization consisted of a type of “city-states” called barangays, which formed groups of families ruled by a datu. Bigger barangays, as Tondo in this case, would integrate several smaller barangays governed by a paramount datu, whose title would vary in each region (lakan in the case of Tondo). This grand barangay was an important center of trade in all Nusantara, since the presence of Chinese migration resulted in Tondo becoming the main center of Chinese goods, trading all across Southeast Asia.

Tondo.jpg


Some highlights from this mission tree include:
  • Growing Strong will reward the existence of level 2 forts in provinces Tondo, Laguna and Mindoro with +25% Defensiveness in each of them.
  • The Queen’s Channel is a reference to the channel that serves as a natural frontier with Manila, in the Pasig River delta. It was not only an important source of water for said barangay, but also its main opportunity of trading. Gaining control over it will give Tondo a huge +50 Trade Power in the Philippines trade node.
  • Both Befriend Majapahit and Abandon the Dragon refer to the importance of democratic relations in Tondo’s polity. The Majapahit Empire was a powerful ally of the Tondo people, so regaining their trust will result in some extra Diplomatic Power and +1 Diplomatic Reputation. At the start of the game, Tondo is a tributary of the Ming dynasty, so dissolving this union will grant Tondo Legitimacy, Administrative Power and some claims in the coast of China.

Next up, we have Madyas. After the Chola invasion of Srivijaya in the beginning of the 11th century, a group of dissident datus from Borneo and Sumatra fled their land and sought refuge in the Visayas islands, where they encountered the native population and, according to the legend, made a trade treaty with the Ati hero Marikudo and his wife, rightfully purchasing the land in Panay. Madyas thus became another grand barangay in the archipelago, with a special focus on maritime trade and warfare.

Madyas.jpg


Some highlights from this mission tree include:
  • All the Ships of Aklan is a reference to the province of Aklan, seat of the first capital of the polity and center of the Confederation mentioned in the Book of Maragtas that we’ll address later. Because of the naval importance we have mentioned before, having an admiral, more than 8 galleys and building to the 90% of the naval Force Limit will be rewarded with a +5% Morale of Navies, -5% Heavy Ship Cost and -10% Light Ship Cost as our first mission.
  • Going Back Home implies the preparation for the return to their original land. Permanent claims on Borneo will be granted after making a show of force by owning at least 10 provinces in the Philippines.
  • The Book of Maragtas is the legendary book that gives an account of the history of the Madyas people and their arrival from Borneo. Owning the northern part of the island will result in 100 Diplomatic Power, 100 Administrative Power, 100 Military Power and +1 Stability.

In addition to these two mission trees, we have prepared 6 unique missions shared by both Tondo and Madyas in slot 2, regarding the conquest of all the archipelago. These missions will require the player to conquer the inhabited land of each of the three main regions: Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, thus granting some morale bonuses and the possibility of immediately conquering unoccupied land in each of these areas, as long as there are two regiments present in each province.

Philippines missions.jpg


Moving on, we have Palembang, one of the pirate nations that can be formed very early on in the game, so we wanted to reflect a bit of the pirate’s life in our missions too! But historically, Palembang was also one of the oldest cities in all Nusantara, once the capital of the powerful Srivijaya empire and main controller of all the maritime trade routes in Southeast Asia. A balance between this major historical moment and the more “modern” piracy was therefore necessary, all of it leading to the restoration of this ancient and powerful realm.

Plb map.jpg
Palembang.png


Some highlights from this mission tree include:
  • Where the Water Leaks is a reference to one possible etymological explanation for the name of this tag, always associated with water. This mission will require the player to build to 100% Naval Force Limit and will grant permanent claims on the Siak and Jambi controlled provinces, thus starting the recovery of their lost land.
  • Orang Laut, Arrival of the Dragonships and Pirate Kings all have the same objective of gaining the best possible allies to continue with the expansion plan. Having the state privilege Orang Laut Privileges and some owned provinces in the northern part will boost your Navy Tradition; dragonships were powerful ships of Chinese origin that will reward your conquests and maximum Navy Force Limit with a Ship Cost reduction and another boost to your Ship Combat Ability (all of them for both light and heavy ships); and having 2 powerful admirals and 4 more provinces in the East will allow access to the admiral Chen (3/3/4/3), a legendary Chinese pirate that ruled over Palembang.
  • Both King Under the Mountain and King’s Court in the second slot focus on the ancient splendor of the Srivijaya Empire, whose Shailendra dynasty came from the neighboring island of Java. Owning some provinces in said location will reduce National Unrest and add a general with 50 Tradition, as well as granting the final cores that will lead to our culminating mission.
  • Restore Srivijaya will require the player to own all of the Sumatra and Java islands, former possessions of the thalassocracy. With the recovered glory of the Empire, Palembang will be rewarded with a permanent Stability Cost Modifier of -10%, +1 Stability and more Diplomatic, Administrative and Military Power.
That’s all for today! Thank you for reading and have a nice week :)
 
Huh, that's all? It's nice, but weren't we supposed to get some big new info?
 
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So with no new mechanics revealed, and no dev diaries the coming weeks, can we get a teaser to get us through the darkest period of the year?
 
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I see "development diary" between quotation marks. Immediately I thought: oh no, not again something empty. Happy to see you managed to make one!
Are the modifiers gained from the mission trees permanent or temporary? Personally, I dislike granting permanent modifier boosts with events, as there are already so many sources of permanent modifiers, making balancing them out difficult. Of course, granting the modifier for 15 years is also not good, that's too short. But how about granting a modifier for like 50 years?
EDIT:
Lol! The quotation marks have been removed XD
 
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Just wondering if i understand things right. One of the palembang missions requires a „state privilige“ called orang laut. Pirates dont have estates. So is it referring to a state edict, do pirates get acces to estates, or are state (not estate) privileges something new?
 
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Does "King Under the Mountain" give access to an army of Dwarves?
 
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Are there any new provinces or tags? I don't get it from screenshots
 
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It would be nice if Maynila, Maguindanao, and Sulu got at least the shared tree. I personally like to play Sulu.
 
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Because you ention thalassocacy will there be any changes to the "proclaim thalassocracy" desicion? By the time you can take it you are already uncontested worldpower and most likely number 1 great power while the reward of it isnt especially rewarding.
 
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Paradox please consider moving Korean culture into the Chinese group. You have already done that with Vietnamese, to make conquering China as Dai Viet easier. Why not do it with Korean too? It’s a culture group with only one culture. It makes playing Korea a pain as you have to culture-shift or suffer.
 
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I'm very happy that the Philippine polities got some updates, but I am quite disappointed... After waiting for 2 weeks, all we get are Tondo and Madyas, not the entirety of the islands. I'm also disappointed that the provinces in the archipelago didn't change, it's all the same, nothing was added. We would be very grateful if you guys could add more provinces and add a formable nation in the archipelago at some point. But I (strongly) believe that you guys will add more missions to the other bunch of kingdoms in the area, since Cebu has a very hard achievement but a very interesting gameplay

edit: Nonetheless, I am very happy, but would be happier if the features mentioned above are going to be implemented
 
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Paradox please consider moving Korean culture into the Chinese group. You have already done that with Vietnamese, to make conquering China as Dai Viet easier. Why not do it with Korean too? It’s a culture group with only one culture. It makes playing Korea a pain as you have to culture-shift or suffer.
I've always thought it's nice if tags have something that makes them truly unique. Maybe Korea could get a mission reward at the very end of their tree that would give -50% to penalties from non-accepted culture (like the kind of bonus that republics get).
 
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Why do I have the strong suspicion that the use of 'that's all for today' instead of 'see you next year' indicates some early Christmas gift/announcement heading our way?

In any case, nice dev diary, always felt that Palembang could use some more regional flavor, seeing as it is in a vastly different place of the world than the other pirates.
 
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